On April 24 and 25, the Center for Scholarship and Global Engagement (CSGE) will host international human rights expert Alfonso Wieland. Mr. Wieland is from Lima, Peru, and will be meeting with several Nyack and ATS offices, students, and faculty members.

“We are so privileged to have Mr. Wieland visit. It is certainly an honor for our Center to host him,” said Dr. Nina Balmaceda, CSGE Director. “I have no doubt that our students and faculty will be challenged and inspired in their own quest to defend the rights of people who suffer oppression, and will learn about Mr. Wieland’s experience defending women and children. We hope that it will be a meaningful time for him as well.”

Besides his formal meetings, Mr. Wieland will also be addressing students and faculty on Wednesday at “The Chat.” He will be discussing his experience in the human rights field and will discuss how Christians can promote values that foster shalom and justice. Mr. Wieland will be focusing on societal, historical, and religious values that have influenced the tolerance of violence against women and children, and how to shift those values to be more consistent with the Gospel.

The work of Paz y Esperanza, a Latin American human rights organization that operates in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, includes providing holistic services (legal, psychological, pastoral, material, etc.) to women and children victimized by sexual and domestic violence as well as to victims of political violence. This work involves a wide variety of legal work ranging from direct legal representation, assisting the capture and prosecution of aggressors, as well as law reform, advocacy, and training.